Folding rack for sleeping-car seats



(No Model.)

I 0'. E. LUCAS. Foldlng Rack for Sleeping'Gar Seats;

No. 229,897. Patented .lulyl3, 1880.

PETERS, PNOTO-LITHDGRAPMER, WASHINGTON. D C.

vUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN E. LUCAS, 0F ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

FOLDING RACK FOR SLEEPING-CAR S EATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,897, dated July 13, 1880.

Application filed June 7,1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN E. LUCAS, of Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seat'- Back Folding Shelf for Sleeping-Cars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure l is a front elevation of the back of a sleepingcar seat, one-half of the middle cushion being cutaway to show the rack folded and concealed beneath it. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same with the middle cushion removed and the rack shown open and ready for use.

The same part is indicated by the same letter in both the figures.

My invention relates to that form of sleeping-car in which the backs of the seats become, during the night use of the car, thehead and foot of the berth, and their removable central cushions form a part of the support for the mattress.

The nature of my invention consists in providing the seat-backs in convertible sleepingcars with folding racks for the reception of clothing, 850., when the car is converted from a day to a night car, which racks are concealed behind the removable center cushions of the backs when the car is used as a day-car, all as hereinafter more particularly set forth.

The invention is clearly shown in the drawin gs, wherein A marks the seat-back, provided with a central cushion, B, held between the two edge cushions E E and attached to the seat-arms by the brackets DD in the ordinary manner. To the back I attach, by hinges h, a folding rack or wall-pocket, C, which when shut lies close against the seat-back, and is entirely concealed by the middle cushion, B. Its upper edge may be pressed in behind the lower edge of the upper cushion, E, and so held in place without any other fastening.

When the cushion B is removed in making up the berth for the night the rack 0 falls in- I to the position shown in Fig. 2, and is so held by the rod r, forming a convenient receptacle for the clothing and effects of the occupant of the berth. I do not claim a foldingrack per so, nor, broadly, a folding rack in a sleeping-car; but

I do claim and desire to protect by patent- The combination of a folding rack with the seat-back of a sleeping-car when said back is provided with a removable cushion which conceals the rack during the day use of the car and uncovers it for use while the car is arranged as a sleeper, all substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTIAN E. LUCAS.

Witnesses I. H. STANSBURY, CHAS. F. STANsBURY. 

